Adrift
by redxhighxheels
Summary: When Bella tries to escape the Cullens at the airport, Edward catches up and takes her away. But what are they going to do on a deserted glacial island for who knows how long? This is my first actual story, not a one-shot, so please R&R! BxE
1. Chapter 1

This place was freezing

This place was _freezing_. There was no other way to describe it. And deserted. The wind whipped my hair around, and for once I hoped that my scent would stir the air. He deserved to suffer a little.

"I'm still mad at you."

"Bella, love, you are safe, and that's all that matters."

Bouvet Island is literally in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Covered entirely in glaciers, very few people venture here. Edward chose it for obvious reasons of security, as well as for the hunting. Seals, elk, and wolves live here in dominance, with no humans to repress them. Those populations, at least, would take a hit from our stay.

And trust me, I was not here under my own free will. Oh, no. My escape from the airport hadn't gone that well. Alice must have told him the second that he stepped off the plane, because they met me at the Hyatt. The ride back to the airport was in a disgruntled silence. Edward was more furious than I'd ever seen him- his nostrils flared furiously, and he glared, wild-eyed, at everyone. He refused to listen to my explanations about how James had my mother, and dragged me onto the next plane bound for Antarctica. Literally, Antarctica. And we had flown from there in a tiny plane to this island where there were no other people.

My mother was apparently the Cullen's number one priority, but if that was true, then why were we here? All around me, happy little animals practically skipped across the glaciers. Edward was off, building some sort of shelter. I still wasn't especially speaking to him, except when he kissed me. That usually thawed out my demeanor for awhile. But the biggest problem- James has my mother, and I'm out in the middle of East Chuck, with my vampire boyfriend, freezing to death. I wonder if Edward brought human food, because I'm starting to starve. Let's see him work this out. Oh, he is so, so dead.

We're living in an igloo. Really, an igloo. One would think that this is a joke, but oh no. Legit. An igloo. Edward found a way to break the ice and catch fish for me to eat, but I've refused to speak to him.

"Bella?"  
"Nope."

"Isabella!"

"Just stop trying!"

"Bella, I'll do anything!"

"Take me home?"

"Anything but that. Bella…" His eyes did the unfair smoldering thing, but I looked away resolutely.

"Nope."

"How about…something else?"

"Like what, Edward?"

"Well…how about questions?"

And now it was my turn to be disparaging. "I'm sorry, we're sitting in the middle of nowhere, _in an igloo,_ and you think that answering my questions will appease me?"

"Is it worth a shot?"  
Well, he did have some interesting secrets. "For tonight, it is."  
He looked relieved. "Okay. Ask me anything."

First things first. "What are they doing to find my mother?"

"Well, Carlisle isn't convinced that James is willing to hurt her, and since they know where he is, they're going to go look for her."  
"But James said that he could tell if I brought you!"

"He's not that good, Bella."

" Whatever. What are my mom's chances with him, if he's thirsty?"

He hesitated, and then told me the truth. "Not good."

I gulped. "And, even if they find her, how do they expect to explain everything to her?"

"They'll figure it out, I guess."

"And how long will this all take?"

" Well, we can't be sure how well he's protecting her, but probably no more than a few days."  
"So then…why are we here?"

" Well, I wasn't taking any chances."

"Were you this prone to over-reaction in your other life, or is it a vampire thing?"

He chose to ignore that question.

"Bella, go to sleep."  
" I'm still in charge here, buddy."

"Please, Bella?" Smolder, smolder.

"Fine. And why's it so warm in here?"

"Well, I bought a heater in Antarctica. They're oddly plentiful there." Always sarcastic.

"Then why isn't the ice melting?"  
"Well, Bella, it's kind of cold outside, isn't it? The temperature outside the igloo's way too cold for the heat in here to melt it."

"Oh."

His logic and honesty were fighting my anger, and winning, so I rolled over and slept. Tomorrow was another day, and God knows that there's nobody else here to talk to.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up angry and confused

I woke up angry and confused. Confused about both where I was and why I was angry, and angry because I couldn't see Edward anywhere. And then I remembered where I was, and the only reason I wanted to find Edward now was to scowl at him. And then he popped into the igloo, wearing only a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. Stupid, stupid vampire.

"Where were you?"

"Hunting. I didn't want you to be worried about me being too close to you when I was hungry."

"Speaking of hungry, did you happen to remember that you'd need to feed the human?"

He frowned. " I hope you like fish, because that and venison is basically all that's available here".

" Great. So why don't you make me breakfast, and I'll start with the questions again."

"Great." Again with the sarcasm.

"How old were your parents when they got married?"

He looked surprised. " Twenty-two. They had me at twenty-four."

" Does it bother you that I'm so much younger than you?"

"Bella, I'm eternally seventeen. The fact that I was born in 1901 doesn't change that. It's you that should be disturbed."

I ignored his comment and rapidly changed topics.

"How bad did it hurt when Carlisle changed you?"

Now he looked angry. "Think of the worst pain that you can imagine. The greatest agony that you've ever experienced or seen or heard of. And then think of something worse than that. Being changed is beyond your human imagination." His eyes were harder than I had ever seen them.

"How did you know where I would go when I left the airport?"

"I didn't. I followed your scent."

" Does Jasper hate me?"

Now, he looked downright amused. "What?"

"I think he hates me. He always glares and looks silently deadly and hateful. He won't even talk to me, Edward. He hates me."

"Bella, he's afraid of you."

"Me, why?"

"You are so breakable! He's afraid to touch you casually or talk to you, because you smell good even to him. Even if he killed you accidentally, he knows that I wouldn't be able to control myself if I found out."

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, Bella, I can only read minds, remember?"

"Why won't you change me into a vampire, then?"

"Bella, do you even listen to me at all? This pain is unbearable, and I'd be dooming you to an eternal night! I can't do that to you, I love you! I won't let this happen to you, because none of us chose this. I shouldn't exist, and I shouldn't be doing this to you. I was born before your father, Bella, before his father! I won't take your life from you."

His tone irritated me into silence, which only seemed to frustrate him further. He got up to pace the tent, moving so fast that he became a blur.

" Is it because you don't want me forever?"

Now his look turned disparaging. "Bella, you know that isn't it."

"Edward, I'm getting older. I'll become old, and then I'll die. What would happen then?"

"Well, I can't stop time. That's how its supposed to be."  
"You say you love me so much, but you don't want to stay with me, Edward? You're going to let me die either way, why can't I die so that I can live, and be with you forever?"

Whatever his reply would have been, it was cut off by a quick and sharp ring. His phone was ringing. Leave it to Edward to have a phone that would get service in the middle of nowhere. But that wasn't important. The only people with that number were his family members, and they wouldn't call just to chat. They had news. News about my mother. Without hesitating, but with a long look at me, Edward flipped open the phone.

Yup, I'm evil. Cliffhanger! So, read and review. And sorry that it's so short, its just a connecting chapter, because the big stuff happens in the next one!

3 Kay


	3. Chapter 3

"Carlisle

"Carlisle."

There was no sound here. Nothing. I sat in silence, staring at the phone, wondering what it would tell about my future. And about my mother.

"Okay, goodbye."

The phone snapped shut ominously and Edward sighed.

"Edward, my mother?"

"Bella, she's fine. It was all a construct, a clever ruse designed to get you to James."

"So we can go home now?"

"Not exactly."

"Explain."

"James got away, Bella. And he's a tracker. He may not know where you are right now, but there's a very real possibility that he could find your mother, and it's nearly certain that he's going to keep look for you. We are staying put here. Nobody, not even Carlisle, knows our exact location."

"So you're telling me that my mother isn't dead yet, but that he could still kill her soon?" My tone was all ice, fury burning through it.

"Bella, do you think that I would do that? We all love you, and you are the number one priority, but your mother and Charlie will clearly be protected. Alice and Jasper went to Florida. They'll be arriving in about an hour, and it'll be nighttime there. They plan to convince Renee to come with them and then take her away from home. Phil too, if it's necessary. But they will have all the protection of vampires."

"And how are they going to explain that, Edward? What is my mom going to think when two undead beings arrive in the night to take her and her husband away 'for their own safety'? My mom may be foolish, but even she wouldn't believe that. Edward, she won't go!"

"Bella, she has to! You don't seem to understand how dangerous James is. You've only been around benevolent vampires, ones who don't want to kill humans. He isn't like that. James is savage in the extreme. He thinks little of killing, and to him, your mother would be collateral damage. She would just be one thing to be eliminated before he could get to you."

"Edward." I was nearly in tears, torn between fury and fear. " Listen to me. They're guarding Charlie outside the house, right? Can't they follow my mom and Phil, too? Can they just stay outside, lurk in the shadows, all that stuff? Not make my mom even know that they're there, but be protecting her all the while? Why can't they do it that way?"

"Bella, Florida is a bit different than Forks. Don't you think that Alice and Jasper might capture a little bit of unwanted attention when they walk down palm-tree covered avenues, sparkling like they were encrusted with diamonds? Do you want your mother left alone until sundown, where James could jump out of any shadow? It has to be this way, Bella. She will be safe. They can come up with a story, I promise."

"Edward, why does it have to be this way? Everything is so hard. You know how to make it easier. Bite me, Edward. Right here. Bite me, and I won't have to be hidden away. Bite me, and he won't be able to kill me. Bite me. We can be together forever. My mother will be safe, because he won't be able to get me. Bite me!"

"Bella…" But his voice sounded weak. So I took advantage. I crushed my body against his, shivering in spite of the warmth of this igloo. I plastered my lips against Edward's, moving them in a way both desperate and passionate. To my intense surprise, he responded eagerly. His lips met mine, joined them like a key fitting into a lock it had long forgotten about, molding together in perfect harmony. We kissed like that until his phone buzzed again. And in a second, he was on the other side of the structure.

"What, Alice?"

"You told her WHAT?"

"Alice, that wasn't…prudent of you. But fine. She's coming?"

"That's all that matters."

Any conversation between us was forgotten, and the kiss lingered as a mere memory. What we both were focused on now was safety, that of my mother and me.

"What did she tell my mother?"

"Well, Bella…you aren't going to like this any more than I did."

I was alerted by the nervous edge in his voice. "Edward, what?"

"Well, the good news is that your mother is safely with Alice and Jasper. They are taking her away with the rest of my family, far from Forks and Florida. It will be comfortable for all of them, I believe. Phil's with the family, too. They're going to Maine."

"Edward, what did she tell them?"

"Well…okay. Here's the story- there's been some odd activity in the woods by our house at night. We weren't sure what was going on, but it seemed fairly mild, so we let it go. Turns out that it was a bit of gang activity. They've formed a fair little gang in Forks, full of the kids in our school who fancy themselves rebels. So, your dad tried to get them to chill, but it had the opposite effect. This gang is now going after your dad, and therefore you. That's the official story. They also apparently "beat up" Jasper. Alice was convincing with her makeup, and Alice was able to fabricate some evidence."

"What kind of evidence, Edward?"

"Well, Bella, there really is a gang in town. And so your mom understands why we took you away to protect you, and she's worried enough about herself to come with us. But Alice had to give your dad some leads to go on…so she kinda set up a gang leader."

"And who was that gang leader?"

"Erm…Bella, well…"

"Edward, tell me!"

"Bella, this really wasn't my idea…"

"Edward, who is the dang gang leader?"

"Erm, Mike Newton."

Silence. I thought this over in my head, almost laughing about the absurdity of it. And then I realized that Mike must be getting in some sort of trouble for this.

"She accused Mike Newton. Of being a gang leader. Are you joking? Charlie never would've bought that."

"Well, ordinarily he wouldn't, but when threatening messages appeared on our yard saying that I was in danger, and that I couldn't have you…it made more sense. And when Alice slipped some rather…telling…things into Mike's room, it made even more sense."

"Edward, what are they gonna do to Mike? That boy is not cut out for prison, especially when he's innocent!"

" I don't _think_ he's going to get into too much trouble. I think your dad's going to be kinda lenient…"

"God! Do vampires influence everything going on in the world? Is the president one too? The Supreme Court? Did you guys set up every criminal ever? God, Edward!"

"Bella, love, you don't even know the half of it.

So there's the chapter I've been meaning to write for ages. I promise there's gonna be one up before the end of the weekend. And, do you like how Mike's "the bad guy"? Those Cullens sure know how to kill two birds with one stone. R&R, please!!

--redxhighxheels


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